Coverage Set for Next Space Station Crew Launch

NASA Television will broadcast prelaunch activities for the next three crew members flying to the International Space Station, followed by extensive live coverage of their launch and docking to the orbital laboratory Tuesday, March 25.

Expedition 39/40 Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA and Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will launch to the space station in a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:17 p.m. EDT (3:17 a.m.March 26 in Baikonur). NASA Television coverage will begin at 4:15 p.m.

The crew will dock to the station's Poisk module less than six hours later at 11:04 p.m. NASA TV docking coverage begins at 10:30 p.m.

When the hatches open, they will be greeted by Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the first Japanese astronaut to lead an expedition, and Flight Engineers Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos. Coverage of the hatch opening begins on NASA TV at12:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 26.

Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev will remain aboard the station until mid-September. Wakata, Mastracchio and Tyurin have been aboard the orbital outpost since November 2013 and will return to Earth May 14, leaving Swanson as the Expedition 40 Commander.

For the full schedule of Soyuz prelaunch, launch and docking coverage, as well as NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: